Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
Finals Week I hope that the Finals Week went well for our students and families. I know that this week can be stressful for students, but I hope that you are all refreshed and uplifted by the great work you have done throughout this semester. I appreciate the commitment and dedication we have seen from our D’Evelyn students as well as the support of D’Evelyn families, and I hope that the 1st semester of learning has been meaningful and impactful. Start of 2nd Semester As announced on Friday, December 18th, Jeffco Schools will begin the 2nd semester in the remote learning model. At this time, the district plan includes the consideration of a return to the hybrid model for secondary schools on Monday, February 1st. The potential return to hybrid learning will depend upon Covid-19 health data in Jefferson County, as well as a successful return to in-person learning in our elementary schools beginning January 19th. I understand that these decisions will be met with mixed reviews. Unfortunately, given the public health circumstances in our community, we are not in a position to fully satisfy all interests and groups. At D’Evelyn, we will continue to honor all health and safety guidelines, while working to deliver the strongest possible liberal arts education to our students. With that in mind, here are our plans for the period of 100% remote learning to start the 2nd semester: · To start the semester, and until we return to hybrid learning, we will follow a 6-period bell schedule for the period of 100% remote learning. · The 6-period bell schedule is linked here. · We chose to move to a 6-period day to start the semester because: o It best aligns with our school philosophy, curriculum, and instructional model o We believe that the shorter class periods will better engage students online o We expect the daily interactions between students and teachers to provide a stronger start to the semester than less frequent, longer class sections would allow. Prior to January 6th, students should complete two tasks: · Review their 2nd semester schedules in Infinite Campus to ensure that their schedule is accurate for the first day of school · Gather their course code access information for Google Classroom so that the first few days of the semester will go smoothly. They can access course code information via their first semester History teacher’s Google Classroom. In advance of the shift to the hybrid model, we will share reminders and updates about the schedule in that model. We believe that the plans we have in place for 100% remote learning and the hybrid model will best support our students’ learning in the upcoming semester. Thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to navigate this unique school year. Enrollment for 2021-2022 The first round choice enrollment window for Jeffco Schools runs through January 15, 2021. You can learn more about EnrollJeffco here. The first round choice enrollment window is the best opportunity students and families have to seek enrollment for a school in 2021-2022. A few reminders/updates regarding EnrollJeffco: · Students currently enrolled at D’Evelyn will roll to be enrolled at D’Evelyn in 2021-2022. Nonetheless, it is helpful for our administration if families enter EnrollJeffco and submit their intent to return in 2021-2022 if that is their plan. · Students interested in beginning school at D’Evelyn in 2021-2022 will need to be entered into the lottery via EnrollJeffco by January 15th, 2021. This includes younger siblings of current D’Evelyn students. For D’Evelyn families with younger students seeking enrollment for next year, please ensure that you submit your child’s name by January 15th via EnrollJeffco. · D’Evelyn students/families that are considering other options for junior high school or high school next year should honor the January 15, 2021 deadline as well to seek enrollment in other Jeffco Schools. As mentioned, this is the best opportunity students have for enrollment in any Jeffco school for 2021-2022. I encourage students and families that are looking for other options to ensure that they have applied for enrollment to those other schools by January 15, 2021. We hope that all students and families return next year, but we understand and hope to support all students throughout their education. In the event that D’Evelyn is not a great fit for a student, we encourage students/families to make thoughtful choices about enrollment for next year and beyond. Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and Enjoy the Winter Break On behalf of the D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration, I wish you, your families, and your loved ones a very happy holiday season, a Happy New Year, and a wonderful, relaxing Winter Break. We look forward to a successful 2nd semester with sincere hopes that we will be returning to in-person learning and activities as soon as healthy and possible. Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
Please accept my best wishes for your student and family on a successful completion of the 1st semester and an excellent Winter Break. I am grateful for the dedication, resilience, and commitment shown by D’Evelyn students, teachers, staff, and family members this school year as we continue to face unprecedented challenges to our core mission - the education of our children. I know that this semester has presented many challenges for D’Evelyn community members, and I am proud of the great work and success we have found against significant odds. I also understand that the end of the semester can be a difficult time for students, teachers, and families. In our current 100% remote environment, the lack of direct contact between our students, teachers, staff, and families creates yet another barrier to providing robust support to our students. In the event that your child is struggling with academics or personal wellness, please reach out to teachers, counselors, staff, and/or administrators for additional support during the conclusion of the semester. At the beginning of the school year, I asked that all community members work to keep our focus on two objectives: the health, safety, and wellness of all community members, and student learning. I acknowledge that there are substantially greater considerations in the successful secondary academic experience for our students, but given our challenges in this pandemic, it is important to ensure we are meeting the basic needs of our students to the greatest extent possible. With that in mind, as we approach what will likely be a hectic and stressful end of semester for students, please join in helping our students understand and appropriately frame the significance of final exams and the end of the semester. Exams and other forms of assessment are important factors in the learning and teaching process, but there are far more important considerations in our lives, most importantly the health and wellbeing of our children. With that said, best of luck to our students on a successful completion to the first semester. It is my most sincere hope that you find all the success and achieve your aspirations throughout the duration of this semester. As a reminder, you can find the 1st semester final exams schedule here. For 6th grade students and families, please refer to this 1st semester 6th grade final exams schedule. A look ahead to 2nd semester The D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration is preparing to start the 2nd semester in either remote only or hybrid learning environments. At this time, we do not know the plan for Jeffco Schools restart in the second semester, as district leadership continues to monitor the public health circumstances and their impact on our school system. Whether we begin in remote-only or hybrid model in January 2021, we are preparing for a strong, successful start to the school year. As soon as we know how we will begin the semester, we will share more details with students and families regarding how the new semester will look at D’Evelyn. If we begin the semester in the remote-only environment, we will follow a virtual 6-period class day schedule, like the schedule we followed for the 1st 2 weeks of the first semester. Additionally, we intend to stick with our recently announced plans for hybrid learning in 2nd semester, so for all periods of hybrid learning in the 2nd semester, we will follow the plans outlined in my Jaguar Tracks article published November 7, 2020. The Pandemic I remain saddened and disappointed at the sheer volume and magnitude of learning, athletic, extracurricular, and social opportunities lost by D’Evelyn students since March 2020. It is my most sincere hope that we will return to hybrid and, even better, full 100% in-person learning as soon as possible in a healthy and safe manner. Ultimately, the public health data matters immensely in determining the level of operations schools may offer going forward. I hope that you and your families are able to stay healthy in the upcoming weeks. Further, I am hopeful that each member of our community will take appropriate precautions to slow the spread of Covid-19 to the greatest extent possible going forward. With recent news about soon-to-be available Covid-19 vaccines, I am more hopeful than ever before that our return to increasingly normal operations is on our horizon; however, I do not want to see that return compromised by the continuation of high case numbers and hospitalizations. I am grateful to you all for the sacrifices you have and will continue to make to slow the spread of Covid-19 in our community. Ideally, I believe our collective efforts to observe safety recommendations and guidelines can make a positive impact in expediting our return to normal operations in our schools. I hope that you and your families have a wonderful Winter Break, a very happy holiday season, and a Happy New Year. May your break from school be restful, relaxing, and restorative, and best wishes on a wonderful 2021! Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
I hope that you and your family had a Happy Thanksgiving and a restful, enjoyable Thanksgiving Break. With a little over 2-½ weeks until Winter Break, I know that our students, teachers, staff, and family will be very busy in the upcoming days. I wish you all the very best on a successful conclusion to the 1st semester. As Principal, I am a member of the D’Evelyn Education Foundation Board of Directors, and I take great pride in advocating for the needs in the D’Evelyn school community. Our community is fortunate to have the support of DEF, who since its inception has allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars to support acquisition of textbooks and technology, student and teacher scholarships, D’Evelyn athletic, performing arts, and extracurricular activities, among many other goals supporting our students, faculty, and staff. DEF plays an integral role in the success of our great school and the quality of the student experience. This week, the D’Evelyn Education Foundation launched its 2020 Giving Campaign, an important annual fundraiser to support D’Evelyn students, teachers, and staff. This year’s annual campaign assumed added significance, given the challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the cancellation of commonly held in-person fundraising events like the Annual Dinner Auction. In spite of the public health and economic challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the D’Evelyn Education Foundation maintains its acute focus on raising and allocating funds to support and enhance the experience of D’Evelyn students, teachers, and staff, both inside and outside the classroom. Among the various fundraising targets for the 2020-2021 school year, I highlight the following areas DEF seeks to support: · Sound improvements in the auditorium; · Funding support for the D’Evelyn Theatre Department planned spring productions; · New softball & football uniforms; · Renovation & expansion of the existing music classroom – with over 100 students involved in Marching Band, and hundreds of students participating in instrumental & vocal music classes/programs at D’Evelyn, we have outgrown our capacity in our current classroom; · Continued funding for student and faculty scholarships- continuing education for faculty has become increasingly necessary as our faculty quickly learn remote and virtual teaching tools; These initiatives will go a long way to improving the student, faculty, and staff experience during this challenging year and well beyond. In order to reach the lofty goal of raising $70,000 this year in the Annual Campaign, we are seeking 100% participation by D’Evelyn families and communities members. Given the economic challenges we face today in the Covid-19 pandemic, we ask our community members to consider what they may be able to contribute with the idea that no donation is too small! While a $5-$10 donation may feel inconsequential, in our fundraising efforts, the accumulation of donations will go a very long way to supporting the needs of D’Evelyn students, teachers, and staff. With our quick and straightforward donation method, we encourage families to consider using our online donation option, via the link to DEF webpage, by clicking the “Donate” link: http://develyneducationfoundation.weebly.com/ You may submit your donations via mail to: D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School 10359 W. Nassau Ave. Denver, CO 80235 Thank you for your ongoing support of D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School, and in particular, thank you for considering making a donation to the D’Evelyn Education Foundation this year for our Annual Giving Campaign. |
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